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I think the role was always going to get awards attention. I don’t think Basinger is the only person who could have won for it, but her performance goes far beyond serviceable. Watch her eyes in the scene with Russell Crowe on the porch. She was the humanity in a nihilistic world. That’s what voters responded to.

If the Wicked film adaptation ever happens I feel she do exactly that if she was cast as Madame Morrible

Morrible is a small part with basically no arc. It’s almost a cameo. Fun, but it would need substantial augmentation in a film version to get awards recognition. Even the great Carole Shelley wasn’t Tony-nominated for creating the stage role.

Lucas Hedges is a gifted actor who just needs to have another great role at the right time to wear out shoe leather making trips to the podium.

If they push it back too far, it makes for a very shortened 2021 season, unless they just end up moving eligibility permanently. And that doesn’t seem like good business since the Tonys basically own the spring awards season and it’s a nice boost for the summer tourist dollars.

If we don’t end up able to have much of a fall season, I think they would be better off to just have a two-year eligibility period with the next awards in June 2021. But, as Dr. Fauci says, the virus will determine the timetable.

McNally was a giant. He won four Tonys in a span of six years, 1993-1998. Ragtime goes on the Mt. Rushmore of ’90s musicals, and his distillation of a sprawling epic into a focused piece of theater is a major reason.

I don’t think it’s realistic to believe there will be any significant recovery for new shows on Broadway by the fall. If you believe the speculation yesterday that we may be looking at July or August before we can think about going back to pre-virus activities, a fall season is likely to be minimal at the very best. Financing is going to fall through, actors and creatives will be unavailable… the ramp-up won’t be like just picking up where we left off.

Our local PAC has the Les Mis tour here for a return engagement this week and they have not cancelled yet. Their website says they are monitoring the situation in cooperation with the Broadway League. Since the BL was involved in the discussions precipitating the suspension of performances in NY, I don’t know why our theater continues to put patrons at risk by assembling 2700 people each night during a pandemic.

My question for the mayor is, what exactly is the “safe” number of people to gather and how did you derive that? My work is currently prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people. I’m not sure what it is about that 51st person that pushes things over the tipping point. It makes no sense.

We may never get to see a large percentage of this season’s planned shows. Given the limited number of viable candidates currently eligible in many categories, any winners would always have an asterisk by their wins. It’s almost like they would win by default. Though it would probably be great news for Moulin Rouge!

There’s also the logistical piece of a very limited number of voters and nominators having seen the eligible candidates.

I know the Broadway League is trying to keep things open, but with epidemiologists recommending social distancing, major sports organizations cancelling games and many cities banning public gatherings, it just seems irresponsible to continue operating right now.

With the shutdown of Broadway likely imminent, should the American Theatre Wing consider suspending the 2020 Tony Awards and extending eligibility out to April 2021 and having the next ceremony in June of that year?